Ripples of a Pebble
by SanDemonMax
Summary: With enough space, ripples become great waves. On the tail end of the Uchiha Massacre, Itachi kills his father...and knocks out his mother. With parental guidance, how will Sasuke grow as a ninja? With a loving family and stories of his mother, how will Naruto grow? The greatest wave will hit the Elemental Nations, all because of a tiny pebble. T: Language and safety. Temp Hiatus
1. Chapter 1: Awakening

**Disclaimer: Naruto is copyright to Masashi Kishimoto, Shonen Jump, and potential others I currently don't know. **_**I**_** own nothing.**

**A/N at the bottom**

* * *

_She was sitting next to her husband, seiza, her elder son behind them. Sasuke was running late, for which she was thankful; the last thing she'd want him to see is this- his parents, calmly waiting for his older brother to kill them._

_Speaking of which…_

_"Father… Mother… I—"_

_She interrupted him. "We understand, Itachi…"_

_"Itachi…" she heard Fugaku start, "Promise me one last thing." A small pause. "Take care of Sasuke."_

_It was silent for a moment, before she heard his response, his shaking sword barely audible alongside. "Understood…"_

_"Don't fear," her husband continued. So he picked up on Itachi's hesitance as well. "This is the path you chose to follow. Compared to the pain waiting on it, ours will be nothing." She could hear the sword rattle more, and could only imagine the look on Itachi's face; it hurt more than anything. "And despite our differing views, know that I am proud; and we love you."_

_A choked sob sounded behind her, before she heard steel stab flesh. Fugaku's blood stained the wood in front of her. She closed her eyes, waiting…before she gasped at a chop to her neck._

_And then nothing._

* * *

The first thing she felt was a numbing pain; spreading all down her back, but most prominent at the back of her neck. She wondered why, briefly, before the recent events came rushing back. The end of the Uchiha clan…

Coal eyes slowly opened, knowing bright lights awaited, as she thought back to it. Her husband, her two young sons, her aunts and uncles and cousins… Everyone gone; either dead or on the run. She could only close her eyes and weep silently.

Some minutes passed, before she heard a door open to her left. She opened her eyes again and turned her head slightly as a young nurse walked in with an IV bag. The poor girl nearly dropped it, when she noticed Mikoto was awake.

"L-Lady Uchiha! Um, uh…please wait! I need to inform Lord Hokage you've awoken." Mikoto could only nod as the girl rushed, feeling how hoarse her throat was. How long was she out for, if she couldn't talk?

At least another ten minutes passed before the aged leader of the village walked in, posture relieved but face grim. He silently handed her a glass of water, which she hastily downed in one gulp, before shutting the door and sitting down in a nearby chair. A silence passed, before she choked out, "How long?"

"A week," he responded. "Mikoto—"

"I apologize, sir!" she interrupted, unable to stop herself. "I tried everything I could to get Fugaku to call off the revolt, but between him and the others who also called for it, I couldn't get anywhere and my failure cost everyone their lives and Itachi's chance for any sort of peace-"

"Mikoto." Hiruzen tried again, firmer, and she stopped. "Calm down. Itachi came to me after everything and explained why he left you and Sasuke alive-"

"Sasuke?!" She turned wide eyes to the elder, and moved to get out of bed. "I need t—AH!" The sudden flare of pain in her back, as well as the Hokage's hand, kept her in place.

"Let me finish," he commanded, tone soft. She winced, but nodded, laying back down. "Sasuke is currently in a therapy session with Inoichi Yamanaka," he explained, pulling an unopened envelope from his robes. "Itachi asked that I give this to you once you woke up."

Curious, Mikoto took the letter and the kunai the Hokage offered alongside it, and cut the top of the envelope open. Handing the knife back, she pulled the note from the envelope and unfolded it.

_Mother,_

_If you are reading this, then you have, thankfully, woken up and spoken with Lord Hokage. Please ask him to send me a message saying you're awake; I will be in Tanzaku City for a month. I feel knowing that you are alright will make my journey as a missing ninja easier, however slight._

_Sasuke is alive. Slightly after I knocked you unconscious, he entered the room. I told him I had done everything to test my capacity, before showing him the massacre with a genjutsu; I regret it. Even so, that is preferable to him finding out about father's plans for a civil war; PLEASE do not tell him of that. It will keep the Uchiha name clean and when he kills me to avenge the clan, he will be seen a hero._

_I did this so his potential as a ninja will not waste away, and with you guiding him I know he will become the best he can. Please help him._

_I am so, so very sorry for this. Whatever should happen to me as payment for this would be too good for me._

_Love,_

_Itachi_

By the end of it, Mikoto was crying yet again. It would take a few minutes, Sarutobi waiting patiently the whole time, before she could gather herself enough to hand back the letter and speak. "First paragraph; he asked that you message him that I'm awake. And tell him…" she sniffled, "I forgive him, and I'll always love him."

Hiruzen could only smile sadly. "Of course."

Anymore conversation was cut as a knock sounded and the door re-opened, a male nurse sticking his head. "Sir, Uzumaki is in the room next door with broken wrists. He requested you see him if you were available."

A sigh escaped the aged man's lips. "Yes, thank you. Tell him I'll be right there." As the nurse nodded and left, the Hokage found Mikoto giving him a curious, slightly awed stare.

"Uzumaki?"

"Kushina's son, yes. Naruto," he confirmed. "He's never in here for more than two days at a time, but with all his training accidents he's in here quite a bit. Honestly I think he does it on purpose sometimes so that he can miss school without trouble…" When he was met with silence, he turned back to find Mikoto staring at the doorway, seemingly in thought.

After a few seconds, she once again made eye contact. "Sir, once I can leave this bed, may I meet him? I've neglected my friend's only child long enough."

"Yes, of course." Hiruzen smiled. "I think Kushina would be pleased to know you're looking out for Naruto, now."

"She would probably beat me to a pulp, first." The two laughed at that, and as the Hokage went to speak to the seven year old, Mikoto gained a thoughtful smile. Meeting the boy would only be the first step. If things went well, then by the end of the month, Naruto would have the loving family he deserved and had been robbed of for too long.

* * *

**Alright, so, if anyone has read "Forever Brothers", I'm back! Hopefully this time for good, since I have more time on my hands. I've condensed the Massacre to Itachi's last words with his parents, from Mikoto's second point of view. I also removed the bit with Naruto's birth.**

**Naruto and Sasuke will come in next chapter, hopefully Mikoto's adoption plans will come out next chapter, and other thinks I can't think of right now; it's 2 AM.**

**No beta yet; lost contact with my last one. Although, Chosha, if you're reading… :D**

**Anyway, same stuff as last time, generally. NaruHina, SasuSaku (you know they're canon, right? *throws party*); I'll leave Brothers up for a reference and so you guys can see how things have changed. Review box is just below. Constructive criticism is encouraged, praises are always nice. Flames equal S'Mores for me and none for the flamer.**

**Later!**


	2. Chapter 2: Meeting

**I don't own Naruto. I'm some 22 year old guy in an apartment. Besides, you're better off knowing I have no say in the sequel series.**

* * *

It would take another week for Mikoto to be discharged from the hospital; Itachi had given her a shallow stab into her back to give the illusion that he tried to kill her, but she kept from bleeding out by willpower. As he had promised, the Third Hokage wheeled her over to another room, where Naruto was having splinters removed from his hands; he went too thorough against one of the wooden posts at school.

"Hello, Naruto," the elder called.

The doctor paused his lecture, and looked to the pair along with the blonde, the Hogake giving the seven year old a smile and the young mother looking at him with apprehension and slight guilt.

_Kushina, I'm so sorry…_

"Gramps!" Naruto yelled happily, looking ready to rush the poor man if not for the doctor keeping him still and telling him to "keep your mouth shut, brat; there are sick people who need rest". "I was trainin' real hard after school! Ya better get ready to hand that hat over to me, y'know!"

"Of course." Hiruzen's smile never faltered. "Just, next time try to not destroy one of the school's training posts." Here, Naruto turned red and looked away, obviously embarrassed; this only caused the Hokage to laugh aloud.

Silence took hold as the doctor finished up on Naruto's hands, giving him a stern warning, before bowing to the Hokage and leaving the room. There was silence for a few seconds as Naruto shook his hands to get feeling back into them, before the boy turned his attention to the two adults. "So, who's this, old man? She looks nice." Even despite the compliment, Naruto looked weary.

Neither Mikoto nor the Hokage were too surprised by the look on his face. With the childhood Naruto was going through, it was obvious he would be hard-pressed to trust anyone who didn't prove themselves. The former figured that the compliment was only because the latter seemed to like her.

"This is Mikoto Uchiha." At Naruto's confused look, which held some recognition (at her surname, Mikoto guessed), the Hokage continued, "Sasuke's mother."

"You're Sasuke's mom?" When Mikoto nodded, the boy practically jumped from the bed to her feet. "Then, then. Can ya get him to stop acting like such a jerk? Please? He was gone from school for a bit, but when he came back he was bein' real pissy! Whenever someone tries to talk to him, he just tells 'em to shove off or not even answer and I wanna punch him real hard sometimes, y'know!"

No wonder Itachi regretted what he put Sasuke through; she couldn't begin to imagine what kind of genjutsu could turn such a sweet boy as her youngest into what Kushina's son was describing. Still, she gave the blonde a small smile. "Of course; I'll talk to him when I see him." Naruto gave off a megawatt grin. "But before that, however," here Naruto's grin subsided as he turned back to her, "there's something I want to ask you."

"Hm? Wassup?" Naruto squinted in questioning, missing the subtle widening of the Uchiha matriarch's grin.

* * *

"_I apologize, Mikoto, but can you run that by me again?"_

"_I wish to adopt Naruto," she repeated, still firm in her voice._

_There was a tense pause as the two adults stared at each other, before the village leader spoke. "My council would not agree to this."_

"_Even so, sir," she countered, "the village government is, by all rights, a dictatorship, and as Hokage, you would have final say. Any grievances Lord Mitokado, Lord Shimura, or Lady Utatane have with the act should not have any weight in your decision."_

_Another pause, before the aged man sighed. "Very well, but still, the final decision would fall with Naruto. As such, I suggest you start slow: while the adoption papers are drawn up…"_

* * *

"How would you like to stay with me in my house for a few days?"

"Eh?" Naruto kept the squint for a few more seconds as he processed what he had just been asked, before his eyes flew open in shock. "R-Really?! You mean it?! I mean—" he fidgeted, "it wouldn't be a problem with me there?"

"Of course not!" Mikoto laughed. "After all, I have to deal with Sasuke; it shouldn't be any trouble." There was a short pause as Naruto went _ever so slightly_ pink in the face while Hiruzen coughed. She glared at the older male, before turning back to the younger. "Well, I'll get used to it. If you're anything like your mother, I already have a head start."

"You…" Mikoto turned back to young boy right in front of her, who now looked _very_ vulnerable. Mikoto was kicking herself mentally for not intervening in his upbringing sooner. "You knew my mom…? Is she…" He gave a glance to his surrogate grandfather, before turning back.

"She's dead, Naruto…I'm sorry." She scooped him up into a hug, and felt a shudder tear through him. "She was loud, violent, stupid. But she was also funny, kind, always smiling… She was my best friend." Naruto gripped at the back of her shirt and she rubbed his back in response. "And when she learned that she was pregnant with you…I had never seen her so happy before in my life." A smile tugged at her lips. "All she could talk about then was how she would spoil you with candy and toys… She loved you from the very start."

Naruto pulled away, furiously wiping the unshed tears from his eyes before giving off a wavering smile. "Miss Mikoto, when we go to your home, can you tell me some stories about mom?" The smile and nod she gave him, as well as the ruffling of his hair was all the answer that he needed. He immediately brightened up and turned to Sarutobi. "Hey, hey, Gramps, can we leave now? I'm hungry for ramen and hospital food tastes bad anyway!" As if on cue, his stomach growled, getting him to go red and the adults to laugh.

"That depends: do you promise to not destroy any more training posts?"

A pause.

"I promise to _try_ not to?" Naruto nearly asked, earning him a bonk on the head. "Ow!"

"I suppose that'll have to do," the Hokage sighed. "Well, come on. We'll have Miss Mikoto discharged, then we can all go out to Ichiraku." Naruto whooped and made to run out the door, but Sarutobi grabbed his shoulder. "_Together_," he amended, getting the blonde to chuckle. The three headed out and went through the halls, swiftly reaching the reception room. As the Hokage discharged the Uchiha, she and Naruto made small talk, only to be interrupted by a small voice, getting both Mikoto and Naruto to turn to the source, the former gasping.

"Mom?"

* * *

**Okay, I kind of half lied; I didn't get into Sasuke more "formally" than bringing him into the story. I **_**could**_** get into the ensuing conversation, but my ADD demands I finish this now or forget it. I'm going to **_**try**_** to get one chapter a week out, but again, ADD.**

**I had a Guest reviewer mention that I didn't explain how Naruto's wrists were broken last chapter; I have no clue. It was just a spur of the moment thought to get him around Mikoto so she could learn he existed. I'll say it was another training accident that was a bit more severe than breaking a wooden post.**

**As for the reviewer "Kit", no. Nevermind they're a generation apart, since Naruto will be adopted by Mikoto, that would make such a pairing an Oedipus Complex, and…yeah, no. I've been shipping NaruHina since the Bikkochu arc, if not earlier, and that's the shipping for this story.**

**So thanks everyone who reviewed, faved, or followed. The review box is still just down there, I'm still looking for constructive criticism and nice things. Flames still equal S'Mores. Betas please PM (and I'll be looking at profiles).**

_**Sayonara!**_


	3. Chapter 3: Planning

**I said it the first two chapters! I don't feel the need for it past that point. *hears knocking on door* CRAP! Okay I don't own Naruto! *hides in his closet***

* * *

The _last_ thing Sasuke Uchiha expected when he stepped into the hospital lobby for his session with Mr. Yamanaka was to find the class loser talking amicably with _his dead mother_.

"Mom?"

The resulting tension as the last two (loyal) Uchiha was palpable, to the point that even the Hokage and lobby receptionist paused in Mikoto's discarge to look at the two. Even Naruto knew something serious was going on and restrained himself to just rocking on the balls of his feet off to the side.

It would take a few minutes before anyone moved to break it - Naruto grinned suddenly and pointed at the slightly older boy, catching everyone's attentions "You're in for it now, ya jerk! I told your mom you were acting like a bastard in school after ya came back, and she said she was gonna 'talk to you'," he gave air quotes, "but I know that you're gonna be in _big_ trouble!" Mikoto just laid a hand on his shoulder to calm him as Sasuke barely rolled his eyes before stopping them on the form of his mother, still looking confused.

"How..." Sasuke audibly gulped down saliva. "How are you...here? Is this..." His confusion melted, replaced instead by anger. "Is this some sick joke?!" He squeezed his eyes shut and threw his hands into a Ram sign, and the adults who were focused on him felt a brief, small pulse of chakra wash over them, a sign of attempted genjutsu release. When Sasuke opened his eyes, he found nothing had changed, and so could only stand stock still as Mikoto wheeled over.

"This isn't a genjutsu, Sasuke." Mikoto laid a hand on his shoulder, running her thumb in a circle on his shirt.

"But...but Itachi stabbed you! He showed me in that genjutsu; he-he..."

Seeing her son begin to hyperventilate, Mikoto grasped his other shoulder and applied pressure to both, enough to bring Sasuke back down to Earth from his mini freak out. "Yes, he did stab me," she confirmed, "but for whatever reason, he was hasty and missed my vitals." Seeing her son slowly, but surely begin to accept what was in front of him as truth, she picked him up and hugged him tightly. "I'm not leaving you; not now or ever."

Naruto could only watch as Sasuke cried into Miss Mikoto's chest, his face showing some mix of jealousy and happiness directed at his self-proclaimed rival. The Hokage turned to look at his surrogate grandson, paperwork now finalized and Mikoto now officially discharged, and ruffled the blonde's hair. When the seven year old looked at him, Hiruzen smiled. "Don't worry, you'll be living with Mikoto as well, or did you forget that?"

"No, I didn't," Naruto responded, looking back to the mother and son, "but it's only gonna be for a few days, or did _you_ forget _that_, ya old geezer?"

"Now, now," Sarutobi admonished, brushing the nickname aside, "don't get ahead of yourself. Take it one day at a time; who knows, you might be surprised."

* * *

After about 20 minutes and a bit of walking, the party of four were at Ichiraku Ramen, the two adults watching the boys talk animatedly – well, Naruto was; Sasuke was just adding input and answering the blonde's question as needed. The ravenette, shockingly, struck the initiative once and asked Naruto why he had bandages around his hands. This caught the attention of the chef's daughter.

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, laughing sheepishly as he sensed the two pairs of eyes on him. "Yeah, well, ya see, I was training at school. I kinda got splinters…and maybe destroyed the post I was using…" He chuckled a bit as Sasuke just stared, before Ayame brought her knuckles onto his head, making him whine in slight pain.

"Don't give me that. You know it costs the school money to replace things; you're lucky their not making you pay for it. Next time they might do just that," she reprimanded.

"Yeah; sorry, sis," Naruto apologized. "I promise to try to not destroy another."

There was a pause, before Ayame sighed. "Alright, I'll take that." Footsteps halted anymore conversation as Teuchi brought out four bowls of steaming ramen on a serving tray, placing down beef with tomato, miso with pork, vegetable, and plain miso in front of Sasuke, Naruto, Mikoto, and the Hokage respectively. "Here y'all are; fresh ramen. If you want anymore, just let me know!" He gave Hiruzen a bow and went back into the kitchen.

"Naruto," the elder called to the seven year old, getting him to pause in his eating and turn to him, a couple noodles hanging from his mouth. "Once we finish up here, we'll need to head back to your apartment."

The blonde slurped the noodles into his mouth and swallowed, before responding, "How come?"

"There are some things that we would need to pick up for you while you stay with Mikoto, such as extra clothes, and your toothbrush." The Hokage clicked his chopsticks together and laid them over his empty bowl.

"Mhm!" Naruto slurped the last of his broth and nodded. "Good point, y'know! I got some instant ramen packs, too!"

"Do you?" Mikoto interjected, grinning, as she ruffled the blonde's hair. "Your mother would have some instant ramen packs hidden away in her house, also. I wonder if she ate enough while she was pregnant that you got addicted to it before you were even born," she joked, causing Naruto to swat her hand away and give her a grin.

"Is that a good idea, though?" The three turned to Sasuke, who was giving Naruto a once over. "The idiot's short enough as it is; too much ramen would stunt his growth with all the salt." There was a pause as the joke was registering in the trio's heads, then Naruto jumped in Sasuke's face.

"Ya wanna say that again, ya bastard?!" Both boys glared at each other…

And then they were holding their heads in pain at the sudden bop they received. "Are you done?" Ayame asked, fists still outstretched.

"Yes, ma'am…" Sasuke muttered as he rubbed his head, Naruto nodding in agreement.

"Good." She crossed her arms. "I know boys tend to fight, but I won't allow it in here."

"Speaking of finishing things up," Hiruzen called out, laying money down, "I believe we should head out now. Mikoto, Naruto and I will escort you and Sasuke to your home, before us two head to his apartment to gather his things."

"Yes, that would work just fine; thank you." Mikoto stood up from her stool and sat down into her wheelchair; she was sure that she could walk home under her own power just fine, but hospital regulation requires patients discharged in a wheelchair to stay in it until they got home. If one stopped somewhere for lunch, well tough luck.

Although getting a free push home was nice.

* * *

**I'll cut it off there; no point detailing a walk. (I totally couldn't anyway)**

**If anyone had not read the notice I put up some hours ago, I was really sick (as in EMS needed to show up). Not fun. But now I'm recovered enough to focus on the story (as much as I can normally); **_**hopefully**_** I can get back to a chapter every 1-2 weeks.**

**Same basic post-chapter shit: Nice reviews, constructive criticism, S'Mores – er, flames. Right below this A/N. And all the faves and follows are nice too.**

_**Adios!**_


	4. Chapter 4: Moving

**Disclaimer: *swimming in a pool of 100 dollar bills* Ah, I love owning Naruto… *hears an alarm clock, blinks, and is in bed, broke* DAMMIT!**

* * *

Aside from the shuffling of clothes, crinkling of plastic (from the ramen), and moving of items, it was quiet as Naruto and Sarutobi collected the former's belongings to seal into scrolls for his temporary move into the Uchiha household.

"Hey, old man?" A noise of affirmation told the blonde the older man was listening. "D'ya think, maybe I could, like…fully live with Miss Mikoto and Sasuke? Not just for a few days?"

Hiruzen hummed in apparent thought (and fought down the grin threatening to show) as he mulled over what Naruto had asked. After a moment, he gave the academy student a small smile. "Well, that would be up to you and her, would it not?" he countered. "After all, it's not myself who would be taking you in."

"Yeah, you're right." Naruto nodded to himself, eyes closed. "I hope she'll let me stay. I always wondered what havin' a family would be like, y'know." Here, he pouted. "Even if I had Sasuke for a brother." Between the pout, and Naruto spitting the name out as if it were sour, the Hokage could only chuckle. "Plus, she was my mom's friend, yeah? She's gotta have a buncha stories 'bout her!" Naruto grinned, and picked up what he had in front of him to bring to his surrogate grandfather. "So, so. We gotta hurry up!"

The Hokage could only smile at how happy the seven year old was, and sealed everything in their respective scrolls (clothes, food, bed/bath, etc). "Okay, okay; calm down." He placed a hand on the bouncing Naruto to keep him in place. He picked the scrolls up, and handed a couple to the blonde to carry, before making his way to the door. "Let's head off, then." Naruto behind him, he opened the door, and the two were off.

* * *

Sasuke could only sit and watch as his mother moved around the house, cleaning up the dust that had accumulated during her two week abscense. While a majority of him had begun to accept that this was real and Mikoto was still alive, a very small, very cynical part was saying that, _no_, this was all a part of the genjutsu that _That Man_ was torturing him with, and he was still in front of his parents' dead bodies in the waking world. His only rationale that this _was_ real was that Itachi wouldn't have the necessary chakra to do such a thing. "Hey, mom?"

The oldest living Uchiha paused her cleaning and turned to her son. "Hm? What is it, Sasuke?"

"Is this…real?" Sasuke waved his arms around the room. "All of this? I'm not having a dream am I?" His answer was for Mikoto to walk up and immediately flick his forehead. "Ow! What—"

"If you were dreaming," Mikoto interrupted, "would that have hurt?" At this, Sasuke's eyes widened in realization. "I'm really here, Sasuke. I don't know what Itachi told you when you found him," she lied, "but I'm not going to leave you to fend for yourself." She gave him a small smile and pat his head. "I'm always here to help you. Okay?"

Sasuke nodded, eyes wet, but before anything else could happen, a knock sounded on the door to the house. Mikoto walked over and slid it open, to find the Hokage and Naruto standing on the other side. "Oh, hello!"

"Hi, Miss Mikoto!" Naruto waved one of the scrolls he was carrying, before giving it a small shake. "S'all my stuff," he clarified, grinning. Mikoto nodded and stepped aside to let the two in. "Hey, ya jerk!"

"Hmph." Sasuke slipped back into his usual routine of aloofness. "So you actually came, then, loser?" This got him a glaring blonde in his face.

"'Course I did, bastard!" Naruto yelled in his rival's face. "Someone's gotta help Miss Mikoto keep yer lousy butt in line, y'know!" The stare-off that followed was quickly cut off by the elder Uchiha pulling the younger boy away from her son.

"Naruto, you just got here; no need to start a fight so soon."

"S-sorry, Miss Mikoto…" Naruto looked at his feet, ashamed. "S'just, he really makes me wanna punch him like I said…"

"I can understand that," she conceded, "and I'll work with him on his attitude." Sasuke looked at a wall to his side at a wall in response. "And if you want to spar with him sometime later, I'll bring you two to our training grounds, but I won't have you two fighting in the house, alright?"

Naruto looked up and gave Mikoto a small grin. "Sure thing!" He turned to look at the Hokage. "Ya gonna stick around, gramps? S'almost dinner time, right?"

"It is almost time for dinner, yes," the old man agreed, "however, I should head back to my office. I've been gone for a while now, and there's still plenty of paperwork for today that I need to finish." He seemed to scowl. "If I didn't know any better, I would say it's multiplying as I speak just to spite me." Naruto did a spit take in contained laughter. "You behave while you're here, understand?" He gave the blonde a look.

Said blonde saluted in what could possibly be construed as mocking, but considering he looked up to Sarutobi, it most likely wasn't. "Yes, sir!" With that, he went off to explore the house, Sasuke getting up to follow him.

Smiling, the Hokage stepped halfway out the threshold of the door, before turning to Mikoto. "Stop by my office in a few days; Naruto expressed interest in wanting to 'fully live here', his words. I should have the papers drawn by then."

Kushina's friend nodded with a grin of her own, and after the door slid shut, she went back to cleaning up the room. "Things are bound to be more interesting with Naruto around…" She walked over to a window and opened it up, gazing out at the Hokage Mountain out in the distance for a moment, before moving to clean its sill. "I wonder what your opinion on this would be, Tomato?" A wind brushed past Mikoto, a little sharp, but mostly warm and comforting as it blew back her hair. She could only laugh at her friend's response.

* * *

**Hi! I had a vacation! Spent New Years out at sea! I like cruises. And it's not exactly everyday one wins 800 bucks because someone gave you an Ace, 2, and 3 of Diamonds.**

**You all better stay away from me.**

**As far as the story goes: Like I put on my profile, I'm currently in the process of moving. My lease on the apartment was broken, but I've yet to find a condo, so I'm at my parents' house right now. This means 90% of my stuff is currently in storage. THIS means I'm typing on my laptop. Which bites. So at the absolute worst, even when I get my desktop back, it'll be one chapter a month.**

…

**Yeah, I got a problem.**

**Trust me, it's not for a lack of interest with the story that I'm inconsistent. I was pissed with myself when Forever Brothers fell through the cracks. The forums I'm on don't help. Neither does the fact that stories in my Faves are updating. **

**So be sure to review, fave and follow and things! Remember I like S'mores! Even if I can't eat them currently. Dammit. (No that's not an invitation to flame needlessly get away from me.)**

_**Do Svidaniya!**_


	5. Chapter 5: Settling In

**Disclaimer: .oturaN nwo t'nod I**

* * *

"Let's see…" Naruto looked between the doors on either side of him as he walked down the hallway, Sasuke following behind. The blonde stopped at a random door and gave it a once over, before nodding to himself and reaching to slide it open. "Behind door number one!" He slid it open, not seeing his classmate smirk, and was rewarded with a broom handle to his head. "OW!"

Sasuke snorted. "Congratulations, idiot; you found the closet. Were you planning to live in the first room you picked? This one suits you."

Naruto groaned and threw a glare at him. "Ah, shaddap! Ya coulda said somethin', y'know!"

The raven-haired boy nodded. "You're right. I chose not to."

"Prick." The younger boy straightened out and looked around the hall. "So, which one's your bedroom?" Sasuke fought to keep the grin from showing as he pointed directly across from the closet; he lost that fight. "Ya gotta be kiddin' me…"

"Sucks for you; I'm not." As if to prove it, he slid the door open, showing a modestly decorated bedroom kept in decent condition. "If my mom doesn't have a room picked out for you, you'll probably be sleeping on my floor." The grin shifted into a condescending smirk. "Hope you like hardwood."

Naruto deadpanned. "Again. _Prick_." He stepped past Sasuke and looked around, giving a quiet snort. "Ya ain't got a lot in here. I had more in my room, and I don't have a lot of money."

"What can I say, I like simple." Sasuke picked up the shirt that was on the ground and hung it in his closet. Turning back to the other boy, he changed the subject. "So what do you normally do outside of class and pranking?"

"Hm?" Naruto blinked, not expecting Sasuke to strike up a conversation, before closing his eyes in thought. "Hmm… Well, usually I'm just at home practicin' my Jutsu." He opened his eyes. "But it's weird, y'know. I can do my **Transformation** and **Substitution** easily enough," he demonstrated the former as proof, becoming a perfect replica of Sasuke, before transforming back, "but I can't get that stupid **Clone** Jutsu!" He tried to perform it, only for a pale, sickly copy to appear, before it vanished after a second. "Y'see?!"

Silence passed for about a minute. "Try to make a clone again," Sasuke said suddenly, causing Naruto to blink, but shrug and perform the Jutsu once more, getting the same result. The Uchiha eyed the faint trail of chakra coming off of the Uzumaki. "I thought so." Naruto gave him a confused look. "You're putting too much chakra into the Jutsu, and as a result, most of it gets lost, and whatever _does_ go into the clone isn't enough."

"Hah?!" Naruto squinted. "Whaddya _mean_ too much?! I put as little as I possibly can into it! I _can't_ put less into the stupid thing if I tried, y'know!"

"It's because you have a lot of chakra in you, Naruto." The addition of someone in their conversation brought the boys' attentions to the door, finding Mikoto leaning on the frame.

"Eh? What'cha mean, Miss Mikoto?"

"What I mean is," she stepped into the room and sat on her son's bed, "say Sasuke would have enough chakra to fill up a bucket." Both boys nodded. "Compared to that, you, Naruto, have enough chakra to fill a lake."

"Hm?" A second of silence, then a gasp from the blonde. "Seriously?!"

"Yep." Mikoto smiled. "It's most likely because your mother's family naturally has a lot of chakra."

"That's…" Sasuke stalled, "actually pretty neat." He finished the compliment.

"'Neat'? That's totally awesome, y'know!"

Mikoto's smile fell off her face. "But like I was saying," she continued, bringing the two back to the explanation, "that's the problem. Some Jutsu require a very small, fixed amount of chakra, but there's no way for you to pull such a small amount out of your reserves."

There was another pause, before Naruto groaned in defeat and fell to the floor on his ass. "So, then, what am I supposed to do?! Iruka-sensei said that I gotta be able to do this stupid **Clone** Jutsu or I can't become a ninja!"

"Now, now; calm down, Naruto." Mikoto was smirking now. "There are variations to the **Clone** Jutsu, ones that would naturally require more chakra. For example, a friend of Kushina's has the ability to make clones out of lightning. The First Hokage could make Wood Clones. Et cetera."

"Woah…" Both boys looked suitably impressed with this information, Naruto more so. "That would mean that there's a Clone variation for him to learn?" Mikoto's son asked, getting her to nod.

"It's called the **Shadow Clone** Jutsu. It takes the user's chakra and splits it evenly amongst every clone that they make, to the point that neither the Sharingan nor the Byakugan would be able to pick out the original from the clone. If Naruto were to make four clones, for example, he and his clones would each have one fifth of the amount of chakra Naruto normally has." Mikoto could only smile at how excited Naruto seemed, bouncing on his feet. "We can go ask the Hokage if you can learn it tomorrow. Sound fair?"

"Yep!" The blonde drummed his fingers on the scroll in his left hand, before seeming to realize that he was holding his stuff and still needed to unpack. "Oh! Miss Mikoto, I still need to unpack an' stuff, y'know." He gave the scroll a glance, before looking back at his mother's friend. "Is there a bedroom for me, or do I gotta sleep on Sasuke's floor?" He seemed to pale at the second option while glancing at his classmate, causing Mikoto's smile to widen slightly.

"Don't worry; I have a guest room. You can sleep there while you're with us." She chuckled at Naruto releasing a breath, while Sasuke snorted in amusement. She stood up with a "Follow me," and lead the two boys back into the hall, past a few of the doors that Naruto and Sasuke passed on their way down, before stopping about halfway between Sasuke's room and the hall exit. She slid a door open to reveal a small bedroom with naught but a bed, dresser, and desk with chair. "Here you go, Naruto. This is your room."

"Cool!" The blonde ran past Mikoto and quickly fell onto the bed, bouncing slightly. "The bed's bigger than the one I got back home, y'know! Softer, too." He sat up and swung his legs over the side, letting them dangle as he gave the woman a genuine smile. "Thanks, Miss Mikoto."

"It's no trouble." She gave him her own smile, and even Sasuke had to smirk at how happy the idiot seemed to him. Mikoto opened one of the drawers, revealing one of the scrolls that Hiruzen had brought – the one with Naruto's clothes. "Now, let's get your stuff out of these things and put them away. Sound good?"

"Yes, ma'am!" He saluted, then looked at the scrolls he was holding: Ramen and another Clothes scroll. "Uh, where does my ramen one go?"

"Hmm, let's think: ramen is food…so kitchen?" Sasuke mocked. Naruto went red in embarrassment. Or anger.

"Sh-shut up!"

"Boys." The two Academy students stilled. "No fighting inside the house, remember? Now come help me, please." Getting affirmatives, the two boys moved to help, Naruto dropping the ramen scroll on the bed as he brought his second clothes scroll to Mikoto to open.

* * *

**Chapter Five then! It was a bit difficult switching POVs, but it's not like I can stay on Mikoto's POV during Naruto and Sasuke's ninja careers. Well, I could, but that's crap.**

**I'm going to look at condos in Coral Springs tomorrow afternoon. I also sorted through the things from my apartment that are in storage (which is actually just sitting in my dad's business's warehouse). I need to return something to Comcast. … Yeah, I couldn't find it. I'm gonna look again tomorrow.**

**Enough about my life though! It's about two weeks between this chapter and chapter four. Which actually wasn't bad. I still say give me a month at worst to get one chapter out, but 2 weeks a chapter seems like it will be the pace I go at. Knowing me, though, I jinxed it. Yay.**

**Anyway, more favorites and follows came by, which is nice. I'm not trying to sound like I'm begging, but please review! I don't know if I fucked something up yet! That's the **_**point**_** of reviews!**

**Well, constructive criticism and ego boosting. I could totally use the second one.**

_**Arrivederci!**_


	6. Chapter 6: School

**Disclaimer: I own Naruto like the USA owns a Death Star—oh no, wait.**

* * *

"All set?"

"Yep."

"I'm good!"

"Go on then; and _behave_, will you?" Mikoto sent both boys (mainly Naruto) a pointed look, getting the blonde to rub his neck with a small grin and the raven to snort in amusement, before the two students left the compound for school. The mother watched them both walk until they were out of sight, then sighed to herself. She had been back home for a couple days now, and was planning on meeting with the Hokage tomorrow about the adoption papers. Stepping into her bedroom, she picked up a small picture of herself and Kushina just after their promotion to Chunin when they were about 14-15, pulling the other's check as if trying to win an impromptu game of Uncle.

"It's just like you and myself again, don't you think?" she asked to no one, and of course received no answer. She set the picture back down on the dresser and headed outside, planning a shopping trip.

* * *

"So, what's she like?"

Sasuke stopped and shot a confused stare to his housemate. "What's who like?"

Naruto stopped just in front of the Academy entrance and gave Sasuke a look like he asked if water was wet. "Miss Mikoto, stupid!" His hands flew up. "I mean, from what I know, she's real nice an' stuff, but you know her better than I would 'cause you're her son, y'know!"

_What?_ Sasuke continued to stare, not entirely processing the question. He opened his mouth, "…Why—" and was promptly cut off by the Academy bell giving the 15 minute warning. "Whatever; ask me again after classes. C'mon." He pushed passed the blonde, who glared slightly but otherwise followed him into the classroom. Sasuke took his customary seat by the window halfway up the aisle, and Naruto, after some deliberation (his gaze lingered on the oddly familiar girl with the light purple eyes looking at him with a slightly red face), tossed his bag next to Sasuke and sat down in on the same bench; his reasoning being he should get to know the raven better since they would be living together for a couple more days.

About 10 minutes had passed by, and most of the other students had filed in, when two pairs of footsteps were heard booking it down the hall right for the class. The door _slammed_ the wall as two different feet passed the threshold and a dual cry of "FIRST!" was heard, before friends-turned-rivals Ino and Sakura glared at each other.

"_I_ was first, Ino."

"Like heck you were; my foot is two millimeters ahead of yours, so _I'm_ first, Sakura."

"Pft." Not bothering to care, Sakura shoved the platinum blonde to the side and ran over to where the two boys were, giving the tanner of the two a none-too-happy look. "Naruto, move so I can sit by Sasuke, please."

"Eh?" He gave the rosette a look with shut eyes, which combined with his birthmarks made him look slightly like a fox (and was it Sasuke's imagination, or did the Hyuuga girl just turn tomato red?). "But the seats are first come first serve, ain't they? 'Sides, there's a seat open behind 'im." He pointed to the bench; more specifically, the empty spot behind the Uchiha. Sakura's stare hardened slightly, but she nonetheless took the seat as Ino groaned piteously and sat next to the sleeping Shikamaru.

A few minutes later saw the door slide open once more to reveal the scarred Iruka Umino and his silverette assistant, Mizuki. This went mostly unnoticed by the socializing kids. "Class." Some quieter students turned to the front, but otherwise there was no change. "_Class_," he tried again, firmer, but still the majority of students ignored him. Sasuke eyed Naruto pulling ear muffs from his bag as Iruka formed the Ram hand sign. "EVERYONE QUIET!"

_This_ had the desired effect, as everyone went silent and looked to find their teacher giving a glare with a head three times its normal size; it then shrunk back down. Naruto, grinning, put the ear muffs back. "Thank you!" Iruka said cheerfully as if he hadn't blown (nearly) everyone's ear drums out. "Now if you'll recall, I have a quiz for you all on the past Hokage, so please get your pencils. Remember, it's an open note test, so if you have notes with you, pull those out as well. Mizuki will hand the papers out."

The silver-haired Chunin did so, starting from his right, and quickly got to Sasuke and Naruto. After he handed the Uchiha his test, there was a very slight hesitation before Naruto got his, which Sasuke nearly missed. He glanced at the blonde's test, and at first, nothing seemed wrong, but he noticed a slight ripple in the air around the paper. Giving it a more thorough look, he made a quick comparison to his own test and found out why it rippled immediately.

_A genjutsu? Why…no, it doesn't matter why. All that matters is that it happened._

Discreetly, so as not to be accused of cheating, he tapped the edge of Naruto's test just as Mizuki finished handing the tests out and pulsed some chakra through his hand, cancelling the genjutsu and restoring the questions to how they were printed.

Once everyone had their own sheet, Iruka gave the signal for the kids to begin, and it would take about 20 minutes until tests would begin to come back to his desk finished. He nodded as Sasuke placed his sheet on the pile, only to blink when the Uchiha hesitated in going back to his seat. "Something wrong, Sasuke?"

A second passed before Sasuke, after glancing towards Mizuki's empty seat (as the teacher was setting up for Taijutsu class) just a few feet away, leaned forward and whispered, "When Mizuki-sensei was passing out the tests, he gave Naruto one that had a genjutsu over it. I'd have missed it if I didn't see a ripple from the chakra on it. I took it off, but…"

"A genjutsu? Why—" Iruka paused as he recalled the reason why Mizuki would cover Naruto's test with a genjutsu. A cross of disappointment towards his fellow Chunin and sympathy for Naruto crossed his face, which Sasuke blinked at. "Thank you for bringing that to me, Sasuke. I'll be sure to talk to Mizuki."

"Right." Another pause, before, "Do you know _why_ Mizuki-sensei would do that?"

"Yes, but it's not my secret to tell." Iruka was apologetic. "Go take your seat. Since it's no longer active, you don't need to worry about the genjutsu anymore."

"Sure thing…" Sasuke still looked skeptical, but nonetheless walked back over to his bench, passing a grinning Naruto bringing in his test on the stairs. The blonde laid his paper on the stack and beamed at his teacher. "That test was a lot easier than others, Sensei, y'know!" he exclaimed, keeping in mind how loud he was.

"Well, I'd hope so," Iruka grinned back, "considering how much you like to brag about knowing them, Mr. Future Hokage."

Naruto scratched at the back of his neck. "Hehe! Yeah, you know it!" He gave a mock salute then headed back to his seat.

Another hour would pass before everyone would have their test turned in and the bell would ring. "Alright. I would say pencils down but since everyone's test is finished, we can just head on over to Taijutsu. Today we'll be sparring. Follow me." With that, the kids filed up behind Iruka who led them to the gym.

* * *

"Ah…" Naruto sighed out loudly as he and Sasuke walked home. "I feel good about my score for this test, y'know."

"Yes, yes, of course. No one is as smart as you, O Great Future leader."

The blonde boy just gave the other a dirty look as they came up to the complex, the former sliding the house door open as the two walked in. "Miss Mikoto, we're back!"

"Kitchen!" he voice called back, prompting the boys to enter it. "So, what happened?"

"We had a test on the previous Hokage. I think I did pretty good!" Naruto grinned.

"Other than the test, though, it was pretty uneventful." Sasuke finished. "Also, there's something I want to ask you. Privately." Here, Sasuke gave Naruto a look, to which the younger boy just raised his hands in surrender and left the room. Sasuke waited a second until he turned back to his mother. "Mizuki put a genjutsu on Naruto's test to change the questions, almost like he wanted Naruto to fail… You wouldn't know why?"

There was a pregnant pause, and a very brief flash of pain crossed the elder's face at the lie she knew she had to give, but she fought it down before her son could note it. "No, I wouldn't."

"Dammit." Sasuke ignored the warning look. "Iruka-sensei said he knew, but couldn't tell me."

"Well, there's nothing anyone can really do about it without concrete proof, so all you can do is make sure any sabotage attempts fail. Are you willing to watch out for Naruto?"

There was a period of silence as Sasuke closed his eyes in thought, before he opened them and put his gaze on Mikoto. "Yeah. That idiot might not be an Uchiha by blood, but as long as he's here, he's a part of this family."

His mother smiled and rubbed at his head. "Good to hear. Now, go wash up; dinner will be ready soon." The boy nodded and left the kitchen, Mikoto turning back to the stove.

* * *

**Oh, hello! I've been job searching! The "searching" bit is implying I'm failing. Because I am.**

**I'm going to do a time skip either next chapter or chapter 8 to graduation, but for now, the two are back in school. I **_**will**_** be going over Naruto and Sasuke finding out about the adoption next chapter. As for teams, I have a poll on my profile asking who you want on their team: Hinata, Sakura, Ino, or Tenten. You got until at least next chapter. Again it depends on when I skip to graduation.**

**Review and fave and things!**

_**Au Revoir!**_


	7. Itachi Interlude 1: Tanzaku

**Disclaimer: I own a Cadillac. I know they're considered the luxury car dealer, but it's off my dad's money. **_**I**_** am broke. No Naruto.**

* * *

It was a wonder he could get any rest at all. Every night these past eight days has been nightmare after nightmare, of every Uchiha he cut down having their body land in a way that their faces would be looking at him and those fucking_ lifeless eyes burning themselves in his memory_…

As if he needed more proof that the Sharingan was a cursed eye.

Still, it was a small price to pay for the knowledge that the Leaf Village was still standing strong, as opposed to being barren and bloody due to civil war. The knowledge that his little brother would live in peace, with their mother guiding him down the right path.

News had yet to reach Tanzaku Castle that they were hosting a murderer. Itachi was currently in the city's dango shop, finishing up lunch. Even though no one outside of the Leaf knew that the Uchiha clan was down to 3 (or 4, depending on if that masked man who claimed Madara's name really is an Uchiha), he was currently in a long black, hooded cloak. He was certain news would reach here before he left in a few weeks, and so needed to keep himself hidden.

"Hey, kid."

The 13-year old paused in eating and looked up to find a white-haired male sitting opposite him on the table, holding an envelope. "Master Jiraiya?"

The Sannin nodded once and pushed the letter across the table to the younger male. "Letter from Sarutobi-sensei. Told me you were waiting for this."

At this, Itachi quickly fished out a kunai and cut open the envelope on the side, pulling out the piece of paper from it, and opening it to find the message he had been waiting just over a week for.

_Itachi,_

_If you are reading this, then Jiraiya has reached your position._

_Your mother has awoken approximately 2 hours ago as of this writing. She will currently stay in the hospital until her motor functions return to satisfactory levels and the stab wound in her lower back has healed. Sasuke will be brought in to meet with her once again upon her discharge; he is currently undergoing mental therapy with Inoichi Yamanaka from T&amp;I._

_On to lighter topics: your mother has expressed an interest in meeting Naruto. Perhaps she'll continue where you left off in watching over him?_

_Regards,_

_Hiruzen Sarutobi, Third Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village_

The younger snorted in amusement at the last bit, a ghost of a smile appearing on his face at the thought of Naruto getting adult guidance from someone not forced to hide behind a porcelain mask. "Yes, I was waiting for this for about a week, now. Thank you for bringing it to me, sir."

"No need for that, kid." Jiraiya smirked, but quickly lost the look in favor of a more serious face. "But that's not all I'm here for. There's this mercenary group that's popped up in Rain Country called Akatsuki. They've liberated their village from Hanzo's rule, but I don't think that's their only goal. So far I've only heard wind of about two or three members picking up jobs across the Nations that one would expect for missing ninja to take, since no legitimate village would touch it." Here, he gave Itachi a pointed look, and the young Uchiha mostly gathered what his elder was asking of him.

"You want me to possibly join this group and provide you information on their motives," Itachi stated more than asked.

"Got it in one." Jiraiya nodded.

There was a pause as Itachi sipped at his water. "Would one of these members seen around happen to have long hair and a mask?"

The Sannin blinked. "Yeah. Why?"

The younger rubbed at his eyes in apparent exhaustion. "This man is someone with a Sharingan." He looked at Jiraiya's now hard face. "On the night of the massacre, I ran into him, and asked what his intentions were that he would invade the village so discreetly. He claimed himself to be Madara Uchiha and he was there to get revenge on the village and especially the Uchiha clan for turning on him. I offered to help him exterminate the Uchiha on the condition that he would leave the village alone and leave my immediate family to me."

"And judging from the lack of a dead Leaf village, I'll assume he took you up on that offer." At Itachi's nod, Jiraiya smirked. "In that case, your inclusion into this Akatsuki is pretty much a given. Offer him more services as a part of the mercenary group in exchange for keeping you off the radar once news of the massacre gets out."

"Anything to potentially keep the village and my family safe." Itachi waved down a waitress for his check. "I'll head over to the Hidden Rain immediately and message Lord Hokage by crow once I'm there."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll be waiting on that, then." With those words, the Sannin stood up and left to meet with his informant in the city. Once the bill was paid for, Itachi threw up his hood and left Tanzaku Castle, heading west for the Land of Rain and his new (hopefully temporary) home.

* * *

**Short chapter, I know. But as the content of it shows, I deviated and brought up Itachi's point of view. More specifically right after Mikoto woke up. She would ask to adopt Naruto about halfway into her hospital stay, which is why the Hokage's return letter didn't have any mention of it.**

**If you don't yet know, I have a poll on my profile asking which of the Konoha 11 girls you want on Naruto and Sasuke's team. Currently it's a three-way tie between Hinata, Ino, and Tenten at two votes each, with Sakura at one. Of course, I can't make a five man team. SO GET TO VOTING! :D**

**Review and all that jazz. We'll be back into Naruto and Sasuke's lives next chapter. Still trying to decide if that will be graduation or not.**

_**Zàijiàn!**_


	8. Chapter 7: Graduation & Two Uchiha

**Disclaimer: I own naruto, yes. *reaches into pantry and pulls out a can of naruto toppings* See?  
Oh, the manga Naruto? I wish I did…**

* * *

Naruto watched as Iruka stepped into the classroom, holding a clipboard, _alone_. Apparently, after the graduation test last week, that same night, Mizuki was caught stealing the Forbidden Scroll of Seals from the Hokage's Mansion. The traitor promptly had his ass handed to him by the ANBU Black Ops before being carted to Torture and Interrogation. Naruto only wished he had seen the Chunin's face.

Oh well. More important things were at hand.

"First off, I want to congratulate all of you on passing the Academy: you are all now officially Hidden Leaf ninja!" The scarred man only smiled as the students cheered. "But don't let this little fact get to your head. You're all only Genin; the lowest of the low on the ninja ladder. Your lives as ninja will only get harder from here on out!"

The blonde tuned out the speech, something about making the village proud and bringing honor to their families or something, and glanced over at Sasuke to his left. The raven-haired boy caught the glance, and returned it along with his smirk. Obviously he was thinking the same thing as Naruto.

* * *

"_Eh? What'dya mean we ain't going to school today, y'know?" Both boys looked over to the retired kunoichi._

"_I have a meeting with the Hokage, and it concerns you, Naruto. Trust me, you'll want to hear what we have to discuss. You as well, Sasuke."_

_There was a pause, before the Uchiha heir shrugged. "Sure, why not?"_

_And so, after a quick walk to the office (and a lunch stop; Sasuke had never heard a stomach growl as loud as Naruto's had), the threesome found themselves in front of a set of wooden double doors, with Mikoto rapping her hand on it. "Lord Hokage, may I come in? I have Naruto and Sasuke with me."_

"_Ah, yes; right on time. The door is unlocked." The three stepped inside of the office, and Naruto noticed the elder was moving a stack of papers from his desk to the floor beside him._

_Well, all except for one or two. Maybe that paper had something to do with what Miss Mikoto and Gramps were gonna talk about?_

_Naruto grinned his megawatt grin and waved. "Hey, old man!" Then his face shifted into one of curiosity. "Miss Mikoto said you were gonna talk 'bout something concernin' me?"_

"_Yes, that's correct. Please take a seat, everyone." Hiruzen gestured to the two chairs he had set up in front of his desk, before turning to Sasuke and waving at the entrance to his office. "There's a chair for you as well, Sasuke, next to the door." The boy nodded and moved the chair so he could sit to the right of his mother, as Naruto was on her left._

"_Now, Naruto, do you remember what you had asked me as we were packing up your apartment so you could stay with Mikoto?"_

_Silence took hold for a second as Naruto closed his eyes in thought and scratched his temple. "Uh… You mean when I asked if I could actually live with Miss Mikoto?"_

"_Yes." Sarutobi picked up the sheet of paper from his desk and handed it to Naruto. "Do you know what kind of form this is?"_

_Naruto (and Sasuke, who had stood up and moved behind the blonde) both read the paper as both adults smiled. In about 5 seconds, Sasuke's head shot up and he _gaped_ at his mother, who grinned wider._

_Naruto looked back up to the Hokage. "Yeah, this is for adoptions, right? What abou—" His voice failed and his eyes widened as he copied Sasuke in gaping at Mikoto. "Y-y-y—"_

"_Yes?" the Hokage asked, amused at the students' reactions_

"_You're _adopting_ him?!" Sasuke near shrieked._

"_Yep!" Mikoto nodded. "Of course, that is if Naruto wants me to." She turned to the still-frozen blonde. "Well, Naruto? What do you say? Do you want to come live with us?"_

_That was what broke him out of his shock, and in response to the question, he _threw_ himself at the woman, grasping her shirt and crying into her stomach, pouring thanks of all kinds out through the tears._

"_Well, I think that answers that." Hiruzen circled his desk and picked up the adoption form from the floor in front of Naruto's chair, and sat back down in his, pulling a pen out from the desk and signing the bottom of the sheet after adding the appropriate information to specify it as Mikoto's adoption of Naruto. "Now, Naruto, you need to let Mikoto go for a moment, so she can sign the paper and make it official. Alright?"_

_The blonde nodded and pulled himself off of the Uchiha Matriarch's stomach, wiping at his eyes. "R-right. Sorry 'bout that, Miss MIkoto." He stopped when he felt her flick his forehead lightly. "Huh?"_

"_Now, now; none of that. From now on," Mikoto paused and signed where it asks for the adopter's signature, then held the sheet out for Naruto to look at, "you have to call me 'Mom', instead of 'Miss Mikoto'. Okay?" She smiled again._

_It would take a minute, but Naruto felt his eyes water again as it finally dawned on him that the woman in front of him, with physical proof in hand, _just adopted him_._

_He grinned right back, the smile so large his eyes closed. "You got it, mom!"_

* * *

"Team 7:" was the first thing Naruto heard upon returning back to reality. Hopefully he wasn't called yet. "Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uchiha, and Tenten Higurashi."

The blonde held a private celebration in his head at the revelation that he and his brother were on the same team. He searched the room and locked eyes with the bun-haired 13-year old girl near the front of the room. She had entered their class at the beginning of the year, Iruka saying that she was in the class ahead of them, but didn't take the graduation exam with the rest of her old classmates on the grounds of wanting to learn more genjutsu.

The weapons specialist gave him a quick grin and turned back to the front as Iruka finished off calling the teams. "You all have one hour for lunch, then you'll report back here for your Jonin-sensei to pick you up." With that, he left, and the students split into groups as everyone headed outside. Tenten stood up as her two teammates walked down to meet her at the front of the room. "So I'm up with the Uchiha brothers, one of whom the school Prank King." Naruto grinned. "You don't look like an Uchiha though," she directed at Naruto.

"Nope," he confirmed. "I'm actually adopted. My birth mom had red hair, which apparently means my dad had blonde."

"Makes sense," the girl conceded. "So, wanna get some lunch? Use this chance to actually get to know each other more than we did during school."

"OOH! We could—"

"No."

Naruto turned to the older boy with an odd mix of a pout and a glare. "And why can't we get ramen?"

"You scare people when we eat ramen." Ignoring the now angry blonde, Sasuke turned to an amused looking Tenten. "There's a barbeque place just down the block from here, if that's fine with you?"

"Sure." Naruto sighed in defeat at her approval. With that, Team 7 left the academy.

* * *

One hour later, seats were filled yet again as the newly instated Genin awaited pick-up from their Jonin instructors. After about two minutes of chatter, a pale woman with black hair and red eyes would step through the open door and call for Team 8, causing Hinata, Kiba, and Shino to stand up and follow their sensei out. The Hyuuga heiress cast a quick glance at Naruto, who responded with a quick thumbs up, which sent blood to her face as she disappeared from view.

Time passed by and teams left the classroom, and 90 minutes later, only three people were still inside. Naruto began twitching in his seat. "What the hell is taking our sensei, y'know?!"

"Calm down, Naruto." Tenten moved to placate her hyperactive teammate. "I'm sure there's a logical explanation."

"There'd better be…" he grumbled out in response.

45 more minutes passed before Naruto's ADHD kicked in again. "Alright, that's _it_, y'know!" He jumped up and ran straight for the blackboard, grabbing an eraser. "This guys is getting his ass pranked!" He moved Iruka's chair next to the door and began fitting the eraser on it.

As Naruto placed the chair back in its original spot and moved to sit back down, his brother spoke up. "You expect that to work?"

As if the Gods themselves were waiting for the line to be uttered, the door opened and a tall, thin man with silver, gravity-defying hair stepped over the threshold, only to pause as the eraser collided with his head and turned his hair chalk-white. Naruto fell over laughing, Tenten looked away and tried to contain her own laughter, and Sasuke deadpanned.

_What._

"Okay… My first impression of you three…" The two laughing kids calmed themselves as the masked man spoke up and turned to look at him. He gave the three a lazy stare with his one visible eye. "I don't like you."

"What!" Naruto jumped up from the ground. "If you had been on time, I wouldn't of had ta do that, y'know!"

"Calm down, now." The man waved at the blonde in a placating manner. "Let's meet up on the roof and have a chat, shall we?" With that, he vanished in a puff of smoke. Naruto grumbled incoherently but moved to head upstairs, his teammates behind him.

* * *

As he brushed the chalk out of his hair, Kakashi thought back to when his first impression of Team 7 occurred. In hindsight, he really should have expected Kushina's son to do something like prank him. He had hoped some of Minato-sensei's patience had passed on into Naruto; it seems not.

At the creak of a door opening, he gazed at his three students (well, minions, but neither they nor anyone else needed to know) walked onto the roof and down the steps, before they took seats on the bottom step. "Well, it's nice to see you came up here! So, shall we introduce ourselves? You know: likes, dislikes; all that jazz."

The girl, Tenten if he remembered the file right, rose her hand. "Can you go first to show us, Sensei?"

"Hm?" Kakashi blinked. "Sure, I guess that's reasonable. Alright then… My name is Kakashi Hatake. My likes and dislikes are none of your business. Dreams for the future? Hmm…" He made a show of tapping his chin as if in thought, before shrugging. "Well, I have a lot of hobbies."

All three kids deadpanned. "You only told us your name," Sasuke so helpfully pointed out.

"Did I?" He feigned a look of mild shock. "Strange; I normally don't give so much information for free." He shrugged again. "Ah well, nothing I can do about it now. Since you seem so talkative, why don't you go next?"

The ravenette snorted but otherwise complied. "Whatever. My name's Sasuke Uchiha. I like my family, training with Naruto, and salted tomatoes. I dislike people who don't take being a ninja seriously and traitors. Hobbies include the aforementioned training, as well as reading. My dream…no. My goal is to bring a certain man to justice for his crimes and bring the Uchiha clan back to its former glory."

_So he's out to bring Itachi back to answer for his crimes. Thankfully that's not all there is to him._ Kakashi nodded and turned to the blonde. "Alright, you're up, Spikes."

Naruto blinked and poked one of the spikes that made up his hair, before shrugging. "My name's Naruto Uchiha. I like ramen, training with Sasuke, and plants! I don't like it when people judge someone before getting to know them, and that it takes 3 minutes for ramen to cook." Sasuke seemed to suffer a sudden coughing fit. Naruto glared at him but continued. "My hobbies are training, pulling pranks, an' gardening. And my dream is to become Hokage and prove to the villagers that I'm worth something, y'know!"

The Jonin nodded once again and turned to his final student. "And last, but not least."

"Thank you. My name is Tenten Higurashi. I like weapons of all kinds, from kunai and shuriken to katana and scimitars; as well as seals. I dislike poorly made weapons and people who dismiss any form of ninja art beyond ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu as superfluous. My hobbies are working in my father's weapon shop, and studying medical jutsu. My dream is to become a kunoichi as well known as Lady Tsunade, if not more so."

One final nod, and Kakashi seemed to eye-smile at the three kids. "Good! Now that that's out of the way, we can move on. We'll have a sort of mock mission tomorrow morning; just the four of us."

"Cool! What're we gonna do?"

Despite not moving any facial muscles, Kakashi's eye-smile seemed to become just a tad more sinister. "Survival training."

A pause, before Naruto exploded. "Hah?! But we did that kinda stuff in the Academy, y'know!"

"This one's different." The Jonin pinned the Genin down with a stare. "The three of you will be up against me." He paused as the information sunk into their heads. "All the teams will be doing this. And of the nine teams that passed this year, only 3 will move on to become Genin full-time. The 66% who fail their test with their instructor will be sent back to the Academy for remedial classes." The kids' expressions turned into those of shock at this bit of news. Kakashi snapped a mental picture. "So if I were you, I would rest up for this." He stood from the rail he had been sitting on and rose his hands into a Ram seal. "Also, I wouldn't eat breakfast if I were you. You'll just puke it back up. See you tomorrow!" And with an eye-smile, he vanished into smoke once again. The three kids gave each other looks of worry and determination.

* * *

**Woah. 2365 words. Never did something that long before. Hopefully this becomes a thing. Also this was churned out very quickly since the Itachi interlude, but keep in mind I began outlining this about 24 hours after I put up chapter 6. So it'll still be about 1-2 week in between each main chapter.**

**So I decided to skip to graduation and showed Naruto's official adoption in the classic flashback! I am one lazy fuck. Meh. Also, as one can tell, the winner of my little poll was Tenten! Hooray background characters that Kishimoto claims to "like"!**

**Ahem.**

**So chapter 8! Or 7. I dunno. Review and all that wonderful stuff! I am STILL looking for a beta! I was fast about it, but the Itachi chapter DID have a few minor mistakes I didn't catch until I published the chapter and read it as a fanfiction reader and not as the author reviewing it. So anyone interested, please PM me.**

**Number three is, TV Tropes. Any tropers out there? Fanfic recs? That'd be one of the biggest honors this story could get outside of actually getting a Trope page for itself. I would love the recommender forever and all time.**

_**Adiaŭ!**_


	9. Chapter 8: Bell Test

**Disclaimer: Nope nope and nope.**

* * *

After bidding goodbye to Tenten, Naruto and Sasuke quickly headed home, more than a little anxious. Hopefully, having been a ninja before Itachi's massacre forced a retirement, Mikoto could shed some light on what kind of test Kakashi was going to give them. Or at the very least explain why this was even a thing.

"Mom?!" the raven haired boy called as Naruto ran ahead of him, quickly finding her cooking dinner.

Mikoto turned and smiled as Sasuke came up behind the blonde. "Yes? How was your team meeting?"

"That's just it!" The younger ranted. "Our sensei's got, like, no sense of time, y'know! He was over two hours late to our first meeting! _Then_ he had the guts to say that _we_ were the ones with the bad first impression!" The woman was certain she knew who Naruto meant. "Then we went up to the roof to introduce ourselves; aside from tellin' us his name was Kakashi somethin', we learned nothing about him!"

Sasuke raised an arm in front of him to signify that he would finish the story; Naruto was too busy being angry at Kakashi to argue with his brother. "After all that was said and done, Kakashi-sensei told us that the first thing we were going to do tomorrow was a survival test against him. He also said that if we didn't impress him, we would be sent back to the Academy for remedial classes." His face shifted into one of curiosity and slight nervousness. "Does he have the power to do that?"

Their mother nodded solemnly. "Yes, he can send you back to take remedial classes if you fail his test. While I wouldn't know how he's going to test you, one thing Kakashi is known for is his love of teamwork above all else. He lives by the phrase, 'Those who abandon the mission are trash, but those who abandon their teammates are worse'. Keep that in mind for tomorrow morning, alright?" Both boys nodded, looking confident. "Now, speaking of teammates, who is the third Genin with you?"

"Girl named Tenten Hi…uh…"

"Higurashi." Sasuke deadpanned at Naruto before turning back to Mikoto. "Tenten was in the class above us, but neglected to take the graduation exam last year because she wanted more time in school. So she was put in our class. She's a weapons specialist."

"Higurashi? There's a man who runs the ninja weapons shop in the market district; Tenten might be his daughter." Mikoto commented. Sasuke shrugged in response; it'd make sense that Tenten would love weapons as much as she does if that were the case.

"Ooh! Maybe she'll let us have free kunai and stuff!" Smack. Naruto glared at Sasuke, who sighed.

"At least it's not ramen your obsessing on."

"Ah, shaddup."

"Now, now," Mikoto placated, "let me finish cooking and then we can eat."

* * *

The next morning, around 8 o'clock, Naruto and Sasuke walked over to Training Ground 7, the former nearly dragging his feet, and arrived to find Tenten sitting on the ground, cleaning her equipment. She looked up at the sound of their feet crunching grass, and gave a small wave before going back to her task. "Kakashi-sensei isn't here, yet?"

Tenten shook her head at Sasuke's question. "Not that I can tell. I got here about 15 minutes ago."

Sasuke nodded as Naruto slumped on a nearby tree. "I swear if Kaka-sensei is late _again_, y'know…"

At about 9:45, sometime before which Naruto took a quick nap, Kakashi finally deigned it time to make an entrance. "Yo!"

Naruto immediately jumped up and pointed at him. "You're late!" Sasuke and Tenten both glared at the silver-haired Jonin silently.

"Calm down, now." He waved off the shout and glares, and brought out an alarm clock, which only angered the Genin more. "Now, I have this set for noon. You have until then to take one of these bells from me." He flicked said bells, bringing the kids' attentions to them. "If you get one, you pass and can have some lunch on me." He brought out three bento boxes; three stomachs growled. He grinned under his mask. "If not, you fail; I'll tie you to a post," he pointed to the three wooden posts next to the lake, "and eat in front of you."

"Er, sensei…" Tenten slowly rose her hand. "There are only two bells on your belt."

Kakashi eye-smiled. "Very good, Tenten. Yes; one of you will be failing and going back to the Academy."

"WHAT!" Naruto exploded. "That's crap, y'know! I ain't never heard of a three-man Genin squad! It's always been four unless somethin' happened on a mission!"

"Well, those teams must've had all the Genin pass. Bad luck for you, eh?" Kakashi joked. He then gave the group a lazy stare. "Of course, you'll need to come at me with the intent to kill, or you'll definitely fail."

"You…seriously can't be underestimating us like that."

Kakashi shrugged at Sasuke's inquiry. "Who knows?"

"'Intent to kill', _sensei_?" Naruto muttered. "Fine by me." Quickly he reached into his pouch and pulled a couple shuriken out in between his fingers. Even quicker than _that, _Kakashi was behind Naruto holding said shuriken to the blonde's neck. All the Genin were stunned at the man's speed.

"Whoah, there, Naruto. I didn't say start yet," he reprimanded. Naruto growled and his fingers twitched. Kakashi eyed the blonde's nails as they sharpened ever so slightly. "But still, you did intend to kill me, so I guess…" all three kids listened intently, "I'm starting you like you guys, just a bit." Sasuke smirked, Tenten smiled, and Naruto grinned. Kakashi eye-smiled, "Start!" and vanished. The Genin jumped into the trees.

* * *

"Sasuke…" Naruto pushed a branch down as he searched. Getting no response, he tried again. "Sasuke!"

"Will you be quiet?!" a voice whispered right behind him, getting the blonde to jump and turn around. When he saw it was his brother, he sighed.

"Don't do that; I thought sensei had found me."

"Don't go shouting next time, then." Sasuke brushed some leaves off his shirt. "Have you seen Tenten? I can't find—" Both boys heard a clang in the direction of the clearing. "Uh, never mind…" The two made their way over, peeking through brush to find Kakashi alone, but holding a kunai and apparently deflecting shuriken and kunai Tenten was throwing. Judging from the weapons that Kakashi had dodged rather than blocked, she was encircling him. Indeed, a weapon came flying out from their right; Kakashi easily dodged. Both Uchiha made their way to that area, and met Tenten about 2/3 of the way there.

"Naruto? Sasuke? What—" Tenten was quickly silenced by Sasuke covering her mouth with his hand, to which she raised an eyebrow. He pointed deeper into the woods and nodded his head in the same direction, silently asking her to follow. After a second, she nodded, and the three dove further into the trees. "Okay, what was that about?" she asked when they stopped.

"Mom told us last night that Kaka-sensei likes teamwork more than anything," Naruto answered. "So me an' Sasuke were hopin' you'd help us to get a bell."

She thought it over for about a minute before turning to Sasuke. "What about when we actually get the bells? One of us will still fail."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Now, I have a plan…"

* * *

Kakashi checked his watch. It was a quarter to noon and he hasn't seen hide nor hair of the kids for nearly an hour. He of course knew where they had gone to hide (not the greatest stealth to hide from an ANBU) but still. Hopefully they were making plans.

"_**Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!**_"

Kakashi's eye widened and he jumped over the big ball of flames coming in from behind him. He turned as soon as he landed and blocked Sasuke's punch. "Where are Naruto and Tenten?"

"Don't know, or care." Kakashi responsed to the answer with a punch in Sasuke's face—

Sasuke popped into smoke.

_A Shadow Clone?!_

Kakashi spun around, only to find all manners of throwable weapons headed right for him. He jumped backwards in a dodge and landed on one of the four posts next to the lake. "You'll have to do better than that, Tenten!" he called, straightening out and looking around for Naruto's attack. _Wait,_ he thought suddenly, _when were there four—_

And that's when one Naruto had his legs in a vice grip and about 30 more jumped from the branches around him, catching him in a dogpile. Sasuke and Tenten walked out from the trees, grinning. "You looked a bit weighed down, sensei," Tenten called. "I'll just take these to lighten your load a bit." She reached down and picked the bells off his belt, one of Naruto's clones having popped to reveal them. She handed one to the raven next to her.

"Well then; you two pass," he let out, impressed. Then the alarm sounded and all the clones suddenly popped inexplicably, Kakashi shaking the real Naruto off of his legs and nonchalantly standing up as if that hadn't happened. "But what about Naruto? He doesn't have a bell, so he fails."

"No." Sasuke dropped his bell, Tenten following suit, and both crushed them under their heels. "We all fail. _Together_. 'Those who abandon the mission are trash, but those who abandon their teammates are worse.' Isn't that right, Kakashi?"

The Jonin looked at the determined faces of the kids, as if daring him to challenge that statement. He smiled wide. "Okay, then you all pass. How's that?" A silence washed over the clearing, then Naruto whooped and Sasuke gave Tenten a high five. "Let me show you guys something." Kakashi led the trio to an obsidian stone, engraved with names. "On this stone are the names of some of the Leaf's greatest heroes."

"Really?!" Naruto jumped in placed. "Then I'm gonna get on that stone for sure, y'know!"

Kakashi merely brushed the top of it. "All of the people died defending the village." Naruto immediately sobered up and walked over to look. Sure enough, at the top, '波風ミナト - 四代目火影' was written in large characters. The name of the greatest hero he's ever known of…

"Is…" Kakashi looked down at the blonde. "Is mom's name on here, too?" The man simply pointed to the engraving of 'うずまきクシナ'. "Thanks, sensei." Naruto felt him ruffle his hair.

"Kushina was an amazing woman; I'm glad I got to know her." The 12-year old simply nodded, wiped his eyes, and walked back to his teammates; Tenten gave him a small hug. "So," Kakashi called out, getting the trio's attentions. "I think we've been here long enough. How about we go get a real lunch, rather than simple bentos. My treat." Naruto opened his mouth, but was cut off by Sasuke's "No. Ramen."

With that, the new Team 7 headed out of the training ground, and into their new lives.

* * *

**EDIT: A thank you to ZeroKaze, who found the correct katakana for Minato's name. Google Translate gave me Kanji, and even THEN I had an extra 'ku' making what should've just been "Harbor" into "Harbor Ward".**

**Whoo! Chapter 8! Bell test! Memorial Stone! Things!**

**Ahem.**

**I didn't mention it last chapter because I'm a moron, but Tenten's last name means 'weapon' as far as I know. And Google Translate isn't helping right now. The whole "Tenten's father runs Higurashi Weapons Shop" thing, as far as I know, is credited to Third Fang's "Yet Again with a Little Extra Help". It's not the only thing I'll be sampling. Firestorm will be coming in I-don't-know-what-chapter.**

**Yes, I asked him. Yes, he said I'm good to go so long as I give him credit when credit is due. I will be crediting him for Firestorm a second time when I actually get Naruto and Sasuke to use it (and by "use" I mean get an explosion to the face).**

**All the usual Review, fave and blah blah. I am still looking for a beta and I would still love whoever would recommend this fic on TV Tropes forever and all time.**

_**Aντίο!**_


	10. Chapter 9: Wave Arc: Assignment

**Disclaimer: I own Nar- *sued into third world poverty by people who own Naruto***

* * *

Three weeks.

Three weeks, and Naruto was ready to make it a personal mission to exterminate every cat in existence. Starting with that demonic impostor cat people called Tora. Not even his mother would be able to stop him; neither would his brother.

Although, considering how often Sasuke's eye had been twitching the last hour, Naruto was sure he would help him, rather than impede him.

Tenten spoke up as soon as the door shut behind the Fire Daimyo's wife. "I'm not sympathizing with the cat, but I can understand why it keeps running away and makes an effort to not be found."

"I hope its head pops from all the blood getting pushed into it."

"NARUTO!"

"What?!" Naruto rose his hands up to placate the glaring girl. "That thing pisses me off more than weeds do! And weeds are damn annoying!"

The Hokage cleared his throat, bringing the kids' attentions back to him. "Now that that's finished, there are a few D-rank missions that you can get completed before 4 pm today. A neighbouring village about 5 kilometres from us has requested we deliver an order, there's a babysitting request, or—"

"TORA NO!"

Nearly everyone in the office sweat dropped. Sasuke's other eye began to twitch.

"—or you can catch Madam Shijimi's cat."

Naruto crossed his arms in an X formation. "HELL no! I'm sick of all these chores that get labelled as missions! Where's the real awesome crap, like fighting off rogue ninja, or being the escort or bodyguard for a princess or the Daimyo, y'know?!"

"Naruto." Iruka, having taken up a temp job as secretary while school was out, sighed. "I know that D-rank missions aren't as exciting as you were probably hoping, but they're given to new Genin for a reason: to help build your teamwork. It's rare for any Genin team, let alone a new one, to get a C-rank mission. Never mind something as high-profile as guarding an important political figure!"

The blonde waved off the now red-faced Chunin. "Yeah, I know that, but still! Me, Sasuke, an' Tenten are like, one complete, super ninja! Sasuke's the skill, Tenten's the brains, and I'm the muscle! We're like, the second coming of the Sannin, or somethin'!" Naruto cast a sideways glance to the raven-haired boy. "'Cept Sasuke won't go mad with power and betray the village." A pause as the joke registered in Sasuke head.

"Oh, fuck you."

"Boys, boys." Hiruzen brought their attention back to him. He turned to the Jonin leaning on the wall by the door. "You're the leader for Team 7, Kakashi, so what say you? Are the kids ready for a C-rank mission?"

"Hmm…" Kakashi roamed his eye over his three students; Naruto looked about ready to outright beg. He shrugged. "I guess we can take something simple, like an escort."

Naruto whooped and the Hokage chuckled at the reaction; even Iruka, despite his argument against the group taking a C-rank mission, couldn't help smiling slightly. Tenten and Sasuke themselves grinned.

"Alright then." Hiruzen moved aside the set of D-ranks and pulled over the C-rank scrolls. "Let's see… Ah, here we go.

"Team 7, your mission is the escort and protection of a carpenter from the Land of Waves as he returns home to finish the building of his bridge. You will be expected to fight off wild animals, as well as bandits and thugs." The Hokage buzzed his intercom. "Send in Tazuna, please."

About a second later, the door opened to reveal a heavyset man in a straw hat, drinking out of a bottle of booze. He studied the group before him, before lowering his liquor and turning to the Hokage. "The hell is this? I paid for ninja, right? Why am I getting a bunch'a brats? 'Specially the shrimp!"

"Hehe, someone's a shrimp." Naruto's grin dropped when he saw both his teammates on either side of him. And that he had to look up at both of them. "WHAT!"

Kakashi dropped a hand on the blonde's head to calm him down. "Calm down, now, Mr. Tazuna. I can assure you that my students are more than capable of handling any bandit or animal predator that would attack us. And even if something should go wrong, I myself am an elite Jonin."

"Sure." The bridge builder sighed and swept his free hand over his face. He then levelled a stare at the kids. "As you brats have heard, my name's Tazuna. I'm expecting super protection until I finish building my bridge. Got that?" He took another swig.

"Alright, guys, head home and pack. We'll leave bright and early tomorrow." The kids nodded and bade the adults goodbye. As soon as the door shut behind the trio, Naruto deadpanned. "I'm betting 9 AM at the earliest, y'know."

Tenten giggled and Sasuke snorted.

* * *

Mikoto looked up from her reading as she heard the door open, catching her sons walking in. "So, how was today?"

"Are cats susceptible to Genjutsu?"

She looked at Sasuke oddly. "Sorry?"

"We had to catch that cat Tora," Naruto elaborated. "Twice."

Sasuke twitched slightly once.

The woman's mouth opened slightly in understanding, and a small bit of pity crossed her face. "I see." She sighed. "No, cats aren't as susceptible to Genjutsu as people; you could only distort their vision slightly." Her eyes seemed to deaden slightly. "Believe me; I've tried."

"Crap."

Mikoto ignored the curse from both boys; it's not like she hadn't uttered the same phrase when she found out that truth herself, so calling them out would be hypocritical. "So, beyond Tora, what happened?"

"We had a weeding mission, also," Naruto said, before jumping in excitement. "Oh! We also got a C-rank mission, too! We gotta protect some bridge builder guy from Wave!" Some excitement ebbed away for childish anger. "Kind of a prick, though; I ain't a shrimp," he muttered.

"We're leaving 'bright and early'," Sasuke air-quoted, "tomorrow; Kakashi's words."

"Well, you'll be at the main gate by around 8 o'clock." Naruto opened his mouth. "I know Kakashi is almost always late, but he does take missions somewhat seriously. He shouldn't be too late this time."

The blonde sighed. "Fine," he conceded. "So when's dinner?"

"Well, I guess I can get started on it." Mikoto put her book down and stood up, heading for the kitchen. "You boys go and start packing for your mission."

At the suggestion, both Naruto and Sasuke left the family room and headed over to their respective bedrooms.

* * *

The next morning, about a quarter past 8, Naruto and Sasuke walked up to the main gate and sat down on the nearby benches. About five minutes later, their third team mate walked up, a large duffel bag over her shoulder. She waved. "Yo."

"'Sup, Tenten." Sasuke waved silently as Naruto spoke up. "We just got here a few minutes ago."

"Cool. Guessing sensei isn't here yet?"

Sasuke snorted, as if saying 'Take a wild guess'.

It would take another thirty to forty minutes before Naruto perked up, catching the others' attentions. "I smell somethin'… Like…stale booze."

Sasuke sniffed for a second, then turned an eye to his brother. "You sure?"

"Yo, team. Glad to see you're all here!" The three turned to see Kakashi walking towards them, Tazuna close behind him. "Sorry if I was late; I had to play a quick game of Find the Drunk."

The bridge builder scoffed and opened the liquor bottle he was holding, taking a large sip.

"We weren't waiting too long. One hour at the most." Sasuke shrugged.

The scarecrow-like man blinked. "Oh, so I was early?" He shrugged, brushing off Naruto's glare. "Not much I can do about it now, I guess. So, ready to head out?"

With that, the ragtag group of five stepped passed the threshold of the main gate and began their journey to the Land of Waves.

* * *

**Smaller chapter compared to my last two but I'm suffering writer's block. Plus, this seemed a good place to end it so now I can start the next chapter with the beginning of the mission and the Demon Brothers.**

**I finally found a beta again! Wouldn't you know it, it's Chosha Kurenai, like last time. Thanks to her for taking this back up.**

**Still digging around for reviews and TV Tropes recommendations. If anyone does the latter, please PM me whether it's on the For Want of a Nail rec page, or Alt &amp; Crack Fic, or something.**

**Also, to be honest, I've recently been using Google Translate for the different languages I end each chapter with. They all translate to "Goodbye" so no one's missing much. It's our little secret. Today is Georgian.**

_**Sbohem!**_


	11. Chapter 10: Wave Arc: Demon Brothers

**Disclaimer: I own Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations. And 3, and Revolution. And that's it as far as Naruto stuff goes**

* * *

"Mr. Tazuna? What's the Land of Waves like?"

"Eh?" The bridge builder blinked and turned to look at the bun-haired girl behind him. "Well, it's small. Located on an island, so our biggest money maker is fishing." He glowered, and turned back to the road. "Not that we can use it…" he muttered to himself and took another swig of booze. Tenten raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

Kakashi glanced at the man, having heard the muttered comment as well, but said nothing as he continued to read.

Kind of. He was actually on the watch for any potential attack. It was because of this that he caught sight of the pair of puddles the group was going to pass in a minute.

_Puddles out here? But it hasn't rained for a couple of weeks, now. Strange. _The Jonin extended his senses, and quickly found the puddle wasn't natural._ I can't recognize the chakra. Hopefully whoever this is doesn't attack, and I don't see a reason to do so. Still, better keep an eye on it._

Kakashi's paranoia proved to be needed, as once the troop passed the puddle, the silverette felt an influx of chakra and quickly found himself wrapped in spiked chains, the clatter catching the attention of the kids and Tazuna.

"Kaka-sensei!"

The man spared a quick glance to the kids as his fingers seemed to twitch very slightly, before the chains ripped him apart. As everything fell seemingly in slow motion, two men were seen behind the corpse, the chain ends leading into a gauntlet on one of their arms.

"One down," the caped one, one horn strangely on his headband, spoke in a muffled, raspy voice. "Four to go." The two rushed straight for the genin, only to get thrown back as a multitude of shuriken slammed themselves into the chain and into a tree. The one with dual horns on his headband growled in unmasked irritation as the chain detached from both gauntlets and hung in place. He rushed right for Tazuna, only for Sasuke to block him, as the caped man moved to engage Naruto, managing to get a cut on his hand before Tenten forced him and the other back from her teammates. They glared, before their heads suddenly met and they fell to the ground unconscious. The four looked to see Kakashi staring at the duo.

"Kakashi?!" Sasuke blinked as he watched the man tie up the Mist ninja to a tree. "But weren't you…" He trailed off as he saw that, rather than his instructor's fleshy chunks, there were only wooden chunks of log.

"Wait, if you used the Replacement Jutsu, why didn't you help us with those guys?!" Tenten snapped.

"I wanted to see who their target was. Was it just an unfortunate instance of ninja attacking ninja? Or was there more to our mission than we were told?" The man's eye drifted to land on the civilian of the group. "Turns out, we've been lied to."

Tazuna gulped, knowing he was caught. "I-I don't know what you're talking about," he tried to defend.

"Drop it," Kakashi spoke back, irritated. "When we took the mission, we were told that we would be fighting off bandits and wild animals. These two," he motioned to the downed missing ninja, "are neither of those, and you were their target. The Demon Brothers are B-Rank missing ninja, and as such this is now a B-Rank mission. I have every right to cancel the mission and bring my team back home." His arms crossed. "You have sixty seconds to explain until I do so."

The drunk man looked between the Jonin and the Genin, before sighing in defeat. "Fine. Have you heard of a man named Gato?"

"Of Gato's Shipping Industries?" Kakashi confirmed, arms dropping to his side. "What about him?"

"The shipping business is just a front." Tazuna wiped a hand down his face. "Besides that, he also deals in weapons trafficking, drug trafficking, even slave trading." He glared ahead of him. "That bastard is nothing more than a monster in a human form."

Sasuke shot a look at his brother, who just snorted. The small exchange went unnoticed.

"He has control over all of our ports, which is currently our only way of importing and exporting anything."

"And this bridge you're building is a way around that," Tenten finished, catching on. "With another way to get goods in and out of your country, this Gato guy loses his financial stranglehold on you. Right?"

"Smart girl." Tazuna took a sip of beer. "Since I'm the head of the project, if I die, the bridge goes with me. I lied about the mission rank because I couldn't afford to tell the truth." He shrugged. "Still, your teacher said he could turn back, and I'm not gonna try to beg for the contrary. If you wanna head home, head home. It's just that I'll end up dead, my poor daughter will begin to resent the Leaf Village, and my only grandson will lose whatever little hope he has."

"So you're gonna try'n guilt trip us instead, old man?!" Naruto called out, pointing. He then crossed his arms. "Not that it matters; I ain't gonna back outta a mission just because it's harder! I'm gonna meet the challenge head on and kick its ass, y'know!" He nodded once to confirm it.

"My brother is right," Sasuke spoke up. "We're of the Uchiha Clan. We don't run back home with our tails between our legs at the slightest hint of difficulty. We meet it head on; it's nothing more than a stepping stone to our success."

"Never mind leaving Wave to die out," Tenten spoke her opinion, "but what will it tell other clients about us? Even if we're justified in turning back, it shows we can't handle anything unexpected. That's not the kind of message we want to send out. We're ninja. Ninja don't cower, they push onward."

Kakashi looked between the three kids, pride very obvious in his eye, before it closed into his patented eye-smile. "Alrighty then." He turned to the eldest one in the group. "Looks like we'll keep the mission, Tazuna." The old man smiled in gratitude. "But first," Kakashi turned back to the Jinchuriki on his team. "Naruto, that claw that scratched you was poisoned."

"E-EH!?" Naruto shot a look to the scratch on his hand, which now looked a sickly green. "S-Shit!" Quickly, he took out a kunai and jabbed it into the wound, much to the other kids' shock, watching as red interspersed with purple poured out. "Dammit! I'm not gonna let myself get hit like that again! I swear on this!"

"Well, that's all well and good, Naruto," Kakashi spoke up, pointing to the hand as he pulled gauze out from his pack, "but leave it to bleed like that, and you'll die."

"GAH! Kaka-sensei, help! I don't wanna die, y'know!"

The silver-haired man chuckled as he wrapped up the damage, even as he noted it began to close by itself. _The Nine-Tails at work, eh?_ he mused. Once the wound was properly dressed, he turned back to Tazuna. "Shall we head on out, then?"

The man was silent for a second. "Oh, right. This way; c'mon." And the group headed off once more.

* * *

**FUCK! I am SO SORRY! Fucking writer's block.**

**Ignoring my anguish, we're into the Wave Mission. We'll be into Zabuza's fight next chapter. Whenever that is. Son of a fuck I hate myself right now.**

**Chosha Kurenai is back, after dealing with college. However the UK school system works, fix the timing and make it convenient for me!**

**Way over in the US. Yeah...**

**On lighter notes, faves, follows, and reviews continue to climb! Even if I am missing constructive criticism. Help me, people!**

**POST-BETA: I'm finally combating the block. I managed a one-shot for Five Night's at Freddy's. For all the hype behind the games and lore, the fanfiction community is small. Go check it out. There's also another Naruto story I have up if you don't yet know.**

**TV Tropes! Still nothing! Many sad, such tears. … Never quoting Doge again. Okay. Yeah, if anyone recommends this, tell me!**

_**Do Widzenia!**_


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